Overview

The EHR or other clinical software system sends a single request (a “batch” request) to the public health immunization registry for each of several patients. Reasons for a batch request may be (a) to obtain updated immunization histories for all patients with upcoming appointments, or (b) to receive complete immunization histories for all patients new to the provider’s practice.

The request includes identifying information that the immunization registry needs to match each patient in the request with those in the registry.

The request also is sent in a pre-determined format the registry can read and interpret (Query by Parameter (QBP) – HL7 version 2.5.1 Implementation Guide for Immunization Messaging Release 1.5).

Example

Every Friday evening, Dr. Smith’s office uses the EHR to create a query to the public health immunization registry (IIS) requesting immunization history for each patient scheduled for an appointment in the coming week.

Dr. Smith’s EHR puts each patient’s information into the correct format so it can be read and processed by the registry. The registry receives and processes the request, and sends Dr. Smith’s office a response that includes the latest vaccine history and forecast for each of the patients in the batch request, with the exception of two patients for whom the registry has no information.

Dr. Smith’s EHR receives and processes the response from the registry, and presents the information to a system user (e.g., the office manager, intake worker, etc.) who can assure the correct immunization history and forecast is associated with the correct patient.

The EHR also lists patients for whom the registry returned no matches or multiple matches and assists the user in resolving potential conflicts.

Guidance

Feedback is invited regarding the value and feasibility of batch requests for information from the immunization registry. Refer to capability 2.2 for specific information about content requirements for queries to the registry.